---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Lifeboat” Down in the Dirt, v190 (the 12/21 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Stardust in Hand the Down in the Dirt Sept.-Dec. 2021 issues collection book		get the 422 page Sept.-Dec. 2021 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

You Still Know Me

Alan Balter

once they would have called you “feeble minded”
or “senile,” but now they say you’re “demented”
not that it matters to me my friend,

because I call you Michael

the nurses say you don’t know me

but when I hold your quaking hand in mine
and a crooked smile plays around your lips
I know they’re mistaken

not long ago we played our games

between sugar maple trees and a red brick building
where they warehoused sheets of metal for some war
instead of once brilliant men

and the day after, we went to college

where we learned the law yet still found time

to write poetry for pretty coeds with blond hair
and full lips
who loved us in your rusty Studebaker

then somehow, it became today
and I’ve come to visit you, as I will tomorrow,
and your eyes will brighten because you still know me

my good and dear friend Michael

 

(first published in Chicago Writers Assn. Magazine, June, 2019)

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...